Watch the Throne
by thepariahe
Summary: This is an alternate story based on the web-comic and their characters, "Deathblight." The story takes around the near future, in the 2020. After a failed mission and a series of unfortunate events in which the demon hunters have lost almost everything, how could they ever pick up the pieces.
1. Prolouge

_N.D.E. Estate_

 _PO BOX 5126_

 _Manhattan, New York, 10108_

 _June 20, 2020_

 _._

 _._

 **For the people that who care,**

 **For as many years as I walked on this earth, I guess you could say I have lived in a wind tunnel. However, I wasn't the only one who is living in one. I made a lot of rash decisions in life. I've done a lot of good things; I saved people's lives, I've killed my fair share and even saved my own a few times. And I've done a lot of bad things as well; I hurt my friends, I have ruined a lot of relationships, and of course, I hurt myself in the process. Years ago, ever since that day, my whole life had changed.**

 **I lived a long life, and even though I put a lot of things behind me, we were created to deal with such trauma and not let it bother us at such. But it did. As time went on, it became the second function, dealing with it. Excepting it. One day, when I found the truth for myself, secrets that the people who I trusted that hidden them away for me, I became hollow.**

 **I promised myself when I was a young, I would not be broken by anyone, only to be lied to and be broken by the same people who took care of me. But the sad truth is that I was broken from the beginning. I was created to be flawed, and whenever I leave this world, I will embrace the fact that I was never meant to be perfect. It was one of the main reasons why I had to leave it all behind so that the new breed and a new generation has a chance to live as one.**

 **I realized for me to survive in this brave new world, I too had to redesign and rebuild to reclaim my old life. And when I did, I never wanted it back. Instead, my early life became obsolete. There was way more out there than I ever realized. I was created for one purpose and as I went to the abyss, only to come out different. Wiser, stronger and more prepared, I found my new life.**

 **Regardless of** **who I am and what I am in spite of who we all are, we are still so small. Before we can truly grasp the gravity of the threads as well as the beauty that surrounds our planet. We are so small, and no other life are we all alone in this life or are we in fact not alone either? The thought is terrifying.**

 **For now, all we know is that all injustices that are political, religious, existence, theories, or truths. All our loves, sorrows, hopes and dreams. Extinct species like the dinosaurs and species yet to come to all pasts, presents, futures, thoughts and actions only exist on our small and insignificant planet alone. This sort of scale, you truly start to think about what actually matters to you, what doesn't matter anymore and would never do what you think.**

 **So, what do we honestly know about ourselves, other than being different from one another? To be honest, not much and we will never understand; not for a long time at least.**

 **A time that expands so much farther after yours and my own lifetime the real question is that can we figure out everything there is to know before Earth is destroyed by some random, miraculous, terrifyingly beautiful act of this thing that we call life. After reading this letter, look up into the night sky and allow yourself to see more than you did before. Do not feel small, insignificant, unimportant or pointless. Instead, be appreciative of your eyes, your brain, and your body; your own silent companions throughout your life for allowing you consciousness at such an extraordinary time.**

 **Where you and your fellow man- regardless of who they are and what they are -can study these mysteries of existences together that are so far away and whatever you believe in don't allow this message to ever discourage that belief whether it be Gods, our Masters, science, the paranormal or nothing.**

 **Instead, combine the knowledge we do know of with your own ideas and theories with others to see what depths of your own mind you can then explore. We too as demons are made up of the same stuff of galaxies. Maybe we're not supposed to know perhaps the actual meaning of life after all. However, I came to the realization of while you have your life, is to simply give it some meaning.**

 **I should know. Never in thousands of years, I would find somebody in my life that would bring me so much joy and happiness. The beautiful part is I never asked for this person to come into my life and when that person did, I only changed my whole outlook on life completely. I have even learned to let go of my past and to forgive the people who hurt me the most and in turn, ask for forgiveness for those that I've hurt in the process.**

 **The constant struggle of the thoughts that were weighing me down heavily on my mind and shoulders, I have let go in time. I never hated my Master, but when that time came when I had to make a choice whether to be obedient and go back to the way things were or give everyone a chance to do something different. I chose the latter. Trust me, I'm still the same person you have known and loved or despised.**

 **But make no mistake, this does not make me a weaker person because I am now in touch with my thoughts and feelings. Now, I truly know the real definition of life which makes me more dangerous than you can ever imagine. I've learned a valuable and an important lesson from my teachers from which I have learned by example, Life means death and vice versa. How can you appreciate life when all you ever do is take it? The question never really resonated with me, until she came into my life. For years, I've taken life, only to preserve and protect life.**

 **In my new position, I have learned from many monarchs and leaders before me. I've seen them all fail it succeed. I will not force you to give me your hand in my new world. The days of yore are officially over. Instead, you will humbly choose whether you will take place by my side to usher in a brand-new age. So, the question that I will ask you is the one that I even asked my own Master; will you get with the times or will you be left behind? That is the only question I will ask of you.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **N.D.E**


	2. Chapter 1

New York City, in the year 2020, six months earlier. Three men wearing long coats, black suits black gloves, and kabuki masks – one wearing a red mask, one wearing a blue mask and one wearing a purple mask – are inside of a van driving and loading their machine handguns. The diver dressed in a red kabuki mask makes a sharp turn and speeds down the street.

The one in the red mask made another sharp turn, "Arriving in two minutes to our destination!"

"So, what's the mark again anyway?" The one with the purple mask asked.

"We have a short list of people, and our instructions are to get their info. Address, phone numbers, occupations— you name it, we take it," the one in the blue mask replied.

The one in the red mask scoffs at him, "Of all the places we could be hitting right now, this 'nobody' has us going out address hunting."

"Well it's not about the money to Nobody, is about making a statement. You know like a freedom fighting kind of thing." The one in the purple mask rebutted while he is reading down the list and looking at a picture of a ditzy brown haired girl with glasses.

Laughing at the idea, the one in the red mask barked at him, "A bleeding heart… Whatever, if this Nobody pays us, I don't care."

They are two minutes late, and they park right outside of the federal office building.

The three gets out of the car and rushes into the front entrance of the building. There, the one wearing the red mask shoots and kills the guards on the floor, everyone screams, and panics. The one with the blue mask orders everyone to lay face down on the ground while the ones wearing the blue and purple masks are tying the captives' hands behind their backs with barbed wire so if anyone wants wiggle their selves free, they will cut their wrists and bleed to death.

They found the same girl in the picture wearing sunglasses who works there, who specializes in… getting coffee and donuts was chosen to hack into the files to see the names of the people on the list that was given to her. By doing so, they could have access to people's bank accounts, address, phone numbers, and etcetera.

While the one with the red mask is with the woman gathering information, they have forgotten to tie up one other person, the senior supervisor. The director sneaks up to the one in the blue mask and shoots him in the back of the head killing him.

The one in the purple mask ducks down behind a desk as the senior supervisor is shooting off rounds with his shotgun trying his best to go two for two. Six shots later, he is out of and out of luck as the one in the purple mask gets up and shoots him dead.

Meanwhile, the poor girl is finished with the list, and the one in the red mask is taking the information and transferring it to flash drives, marking every one them by their last names and putting it in a duffel bag. Afterward, she drags the girl out of the computer room and notifies the handle "Nobody" on this communicator leaving a voice message saying it was done and to send in a new car.

Then, he received a text message from the "Nobody" giving him new instructions. Then, he meets up with the one in the purple mask in the hallway. Letting her hold the bag, the man later double-crosses his partner and shoots him in the stomach.

Then the one in the red mask points the gun at the girl, "I want to thank you for cooperation but… hey got to do what to boss says."

"We do only what we're meant to do." As the girl tosses the bag away and stands her ground.

Laughing at her, the one in the red mask recanted, "You calling me out, you little cunt? It's like a rabbit challenging a wolf."

"No, more like a douchebag… challenging an armored car," the girl in sunglasses shot back with a smile on her face.

"Armored car?" the one in the red mask questioned as she backed away.

"What the fuck are you talk-" the moment the one in the red mask try to finish, an armored car crashed into the building and hit the one in the red mask sending him flying into a wall, killing him on impact.

The girl picked up the bag as the driver in the armored car honked the horn. As she walked to the car, the one in the purple mask which is still alive and on the ground in pain is clamoring for her. "It's always the fuckin insider with me, huh? Nothing is… is ever simple anymore. Someone always has to play the double."

She turned around and smiled at him as he continues. "It had to be… the bitch being the double. You always tell us to be men and have honor, but what about you, huh?! What the fuck about you?!" After hearing that, she walks towards the one in the purple mask and put puts on her yellow lipstick. She kneels over to the wounded man and takes off his mask, revealing to be a brown wolf demon with yellow eyes.

With a smile on her face, she shushes him by putting her two fingers to his lips and replies, "I do believe is not about making a statement. It's about imposing one."

Afterward, she takes off the brown-haired wig, she shows off her real hair—blonde wolf girl with black highlights. The gunshot wounded demon quickly two together. She is the "Nobody" they were talking about. Then, she passionately kisses him on the lips and walks away.

As she walks to the self-driving armored car gets in and drives out of the bank. Suddenly the gunshot wounded demon felt ill, his body started to run a fever and began to sweat profusely as his face turned beet red. Foaming at the mouth, he started convulsing as he began to die from cyanide poisoning.

Later that night, it was all over the news about the supposed bank robbery. After the worldwide fallout between the demon hunters and the rivaled organizations, they were fighting against as the years went by, many humans, demons and many other creatures alike try to understand one another. Even though there is still conflict, there is also unity more than ever.

Surprisingly enough, America is one of the several countries that were accepting towards different creatures. While the never-ending war continues, many others vie for peace as most demons and humans decide not to be apart from the war. However, there are casualties and those being caught in the crossfire now more than ever throughout the world.

Fed up with both sides and their constant power struggle, even more, mortal champions- with advancement in magic, medical and advanced technology- have surprisingly gained equal footing amongst the demon hunters and their dementors.

More than ever, this never ending struggle can go either way, and nobody knows that better than the Phantoms. At a luxury suite in Waldorf Astoria, Empress is watching a film with Schnee and Laika who is enjoying the room service as Hyena is… in the other room… enjoying the room service as well. The movie they were just finished watching was a film adaptation, **_Second Renaissance: Bitter Harvest._**

After the movie was over, Schnee, turned on the lights in the room as the Blu-ray disc stopped playing. Eager to hear the ladies' reaction, she asked Empress and Laika, "Well, how did you like it?"

Being bored with the movie, Empress gave her honest critique, "What the hell did I just saw? I mean, don't get me wrong I know why you picked this movie in the first place, Schnee. And that Leo Claymore guy is cute, but he's crazy as hell! He looks like if Harry Potter and that Son-Goku guy bumped uglies-"

Suddenly, a happy and blushing Hyena in a white robe joined the ladies as she was down a bottle of beer. She plopped on the couch and kicked her feet up as the three watched her.

"Is he dead in there or what? Because we are not going to be out in the middle of the night burying any holes," Schnee teases.

"Last time I checked he had a pulse when I left the room," Hyena shot back. Then, she turned her attention to Laika, stuffing her face again. "I ordered seven steaks because I knew you'd eat three with no problem. I hope you save me one!"

"Relax, Hyena. Laika saved you one." Laika confirmed. "Besides, did Hyena already had her protein?"

Empress and Schnee laughed at Laika's joke as Hyena grew more embarrassed, "Shut up and your steak, Laika! If you only knew I had to go through to get here; I hate traveling… all those asshole people and their screaming babies… And all the pimple-faced teenagers hitting on me… I'm surprised I didn't kill anyone yet!"

"Yes, that is a miracle all in itself, and you should be proud of that," Empress chimed in as Hyena finished her bottle of beer.

"So, what were you guys watching?" Hyena asked as Schnee was too eager to explain.

"Well, we just got to see a movie about-"

Alas, Empress' cell phone and she answered it immediately, "Ross, I told you… Did he…? When…? Everyone's going to be there… Thank you." Empress hangs up the call and addresses her team, "it turns out that we are a go. They accepted our deal."

"They have agreed to pay up 157.8 million? That's 26.3 million each not counting our share in the joint venture!" Hyena emphasized.

"That's only for one year," Empress confirmed. "There's going to be a lot of cargo amongst the New England area. New York is one of them; then there is Maine, Delaware, Massachusetts just to name a few…"

"I'm just surprised with him gone, they would say no to us," Hyena rebutted as Empress as this saddens her.

"Yeah, he has been gone for a while now. Funny, even though I can't forgive him for betraying me, yet I still miss him…" Empress quickly regained her composure and talks about business, "but I guess we're all just passing through, no matter who we are and what we are. That's why we must expand. We must redesign and rebuild our rep so we can reclaim our dominant status. Now more than ever, everyone is exporting and importing materials, and everyone buys these imported goods at a premium. They need protection, and that's where we come in. We have the connections, we have the manpower to make it all happen. To them, this joint venture of 157.8 million they are willing to fork over is chump change on what is coming here to the United States. And the icing on the cake is that we get an equal piece of the profit for years to come. All of they need do now is sign off on the paperwork, and we are good as golden."

"Wait a minute. After all that has happened over the years, they still haven't said yes?" Hyena questioned.

"We are talking about businessmen and business women. Everything must be accounted for and presentable. So, in part, everything has to be done with the right proper channels. The last thing we want is the U.N. breathing down our necks again," Empress lectured.

This makes Hyena uneasy, "So what? We go over there, and they pull a fast one on us?"

"Would you rather have things done back in the day? Things have changed, just like everything else in life. Nothing can stay the same forever. Not even in 5000 years. And that's a problem. Suddenly realizing we are spinning in our hamster wheels doing absolutely nothing but hurting each other…" Empress lectured.

After the death of Gladius and a few others, Empress took it harder than she normally did. It came to a shock to many who have fought this never-ending struggle. Many demon hunters and assassins have resigned as many of their enemies turned over a new leaf and learned the error of their ways. But even though many people have changed over the years, a lot of things stayed the same. They are still war, they're still crimes, they're still rape, and there is still murder.

"Change is not easy, but it never really is, isn't it," Schnee chimed in.

"Schnee, I want you to go to the meeting tonight. You don't have to worry about bringing any of us as a backup. We have all issued a no kill order. This is strictly business. Have them sign the documents and return them here to us-"

"Seriously?!" Hyena interjected. "No backup?! What happens if Memento shows up?"

That was a possibility. Memento (or Memento Dark, in full) happens to be a mortal demon and one the mortal champions who on the side of equality and understanding. Most sightings and descriptions of Memento were extremely scarce since most of the people he apprehends are either terrified or have no memory when the authorities bring them in. It has been seven years since Memento showed up in New York and places all over the world. Since then, he has become living proof that not all mortal demons are evil and can make a difference.

Empress scoffed at the idea, "Him?! That costumed hero-wannabe? I wouldn't worry about him."

"Worry? May I remind you he defeated you." Hyena mentioned.

"No, he didn't!" Empress argued. "He was a waste of my time. If I wanted to kill him, he'd be dead by now. And I am glad I didn't because now I made 'good old toilet dinner' famous! I made him into a 'hero' for all the little bastards who want to write creepypastas about him! A glorified meme for anyone who wanted to google the words 'Memento Demon Hero Guy' next to ugly babies and snippets of reality TV shows!"

"Fine! If you don't care, then why aren't you going?" Hyena putting her in the hot-seat as Empress quickly gave an answer.

"Pecking order." Empress smiles and Hyena shook her head.

"If you're just scared then say you are scared."

Empress blew off the argument as the focuses her energy on Schnee, "In one hour, you will be meeting the usual consisting of Breezy, a yuppie day trader. Killer Queen, she is the leader of the assassin group, the Red Arrow. Mister Sit-down—more like the former child actor Lorelei Kerry and her stuffed animal, Mister Sit-down. Oh, and one more thing: I know you want that bear she always carries around with her and you can't have it," Empress warns as Schnee pouted.

"The self-proclaimed vampire king Doctor Ross Calisto, who was at one point in time Vasqua's bitch and there is Peter Dice, who runs one of the logistics systems in the New England states. And you Schnee makes seven in the meeting."

"Kay, kay…" Schnee understood.

"I'll text you the coordinates where the meeting is being held; encrypted, so the authorities won't bother us," Empress scoffs. "But then again, these are the Unholy Six of New York so I would not hold my breath on anyone doing anything stupid."

"Wishful thinking," Hyena chimed in.


	3. Chapter 2

An hour later, Schnee meets up with Breezy, Doctor Calisto, Peter Dice, Killer Queen, Lorelei Kerry and her stuffed animal, Mister Sit-down. All of them were well dressed and smelled sweet according to Schnee, but all she could obsess about was the jewel-embedded bear Lorelei was cradling in her arms. As they all sat around the table reading over the blueprint and the cargo they will be carrying for countries over the world to New York City.

Breezy couldn't help himself complain about the price he agreed upon, "Woo! I must say, Schnee, even to me that's a lot of zeros!" Then Breezy passes the document to Schnee.

"Wh-what d-do you think, Mister Sit-Down?" Lorelei weakly asked the stuffed bear as she leaned in to hear what the bear was saying to her. Lorelei nodded as she slumped in her seat, "Mister Sit-Down said it's okay."

Schnee signs the documents herself, "Agreed."

"It looks like Count Dracula did his thing after all. And I thought you were a broke ass version of Edward," Breezy teased as Doctor Calisto addresses the group.

"That was so funny I forgot to laugh. Ladies and gentlemen, I am euphoric that we have come to an agreement. To see us all together here with one goal in mind. It was only eight years when those demon hunters and the Demon Emperor had their glorious battle that cost millions of lives; both dead or broken, never to be repaired ever again. For too long these so-called gods and Masters who pretty much wanted to ensure this cycle of never-ending death. They can have that dark and twisted fantasy of misery; while many of us who want to enjoy the finer things in life, can spread forth our legacy with certainty. The demon king Gladius, who was next in line to be emperor, a man who was a good friend of mine, is dead. However, there is always a silver lining. Ferania and her little stacked and tight friends have been disavowed. They have lost all credibility to the public, never to be trusted again."

The whole group agreed as Doctor Calisto delightedly chuckled while raising his champagne glass, "Victory goes to stumpy-"

Those will be Doctor Calisto's last dying words as out of nowhere someone through a steel stake through his heart.

Scrambling for safety, the Unholy Six of New York took shelter underneath the table as Schnee took the documents and ran off with them leaving the henchmen and the remainder of the Unholy Six to fend for themselves. As the crime lords take shelter underneath the table, the henchmen surrounded the table pointing their guns to the darkness.

Cautiously waiting for what's about to come, they were met with a tiny metallic cylinder that was rolled towards their feet. The small cylinder started to blink red frequently as the lights went off abruptly. Then the tiny cylinder ended up flashing strobe light. It turns out that the tiny cylinder was not only a bomb, but it was a strobe light flash bomb, blinding the henchmen.

Then out of nowhere, a female golden wolf girl decked out in black military fatigue with a flak jacket, and a wolf mask rushed one of the henchmen and slit his throat. Being dead before he hit the floor she went over to another henchman and stabbed in the chest. Not done with him yet, she picked him up with one arm in slammed him on the table; stabbing him a few times and chest for the safe measure while throwing him to the ground. While one of the henchmen tries to shoot at the masked woman, she dodge-rolled out of the way and kicked in the stomach, sending him off his feet. Then she went over to the two henchmen and gracefully stabbed both in the heart.

As one of the other henchmen try to sneak up on her, she gracefully dodge-rolled out of the way again only to sneak up behind him stabbing him in the spine, killing him. The impatient one of the two remaining henchmen ran up to her to grab her, only to be stabbed in the chest three times and kicked in the stomach, sending him to the ground on his back.

Paying attention to the henchmen behind her, she simply slit his throat and stomach. Finally, she looked over at the remaining and dying henchmen as she jumps and lands on him stabbing him in the throat; twisting it, so the wound won't close, finishing him off. Rising from the corpse, she successfully neutralized the threat in the room. As the flash bomb dissipated, the fluorescent lights in the chamber went on again. There we see the remaining unholy six cowering in fear.

"This is Bullshit, man. Since when Memento started killing people?" Peter Dice questions.

"I don't know, why don't you go out there and ask him," Breezy answered.

"We will all be dead if you don't shut up!" Killer Queen quietly screamed.

Suddenly, their greatest fear comes to fruition. The attacker was still there, and she was waiting to stand on the table. She stomped on the table 3 times to get their attention, "Everybody out, now!"

Gingerly, the remaining Unholy Six of New York crept up under of the table. As they all stood there, they all took a good look at their attacker. It wasn't Memento after all, but it was someone just as deadly as he is. It was a female golden wolf girl decked out in black military gear with a red flak jacket and a red and purple wolf mask. With her arms crossed and her tail coquettishly waving about.

"The meeting isn't over, and if anybody runs, you all die. Sit down," the masked wolf girl demanded as none of the remaining four didn't want to cross her. They pretty much knew that she was in control. As they took their seats, masked wolf girl looked around her; scoping out her supposed competition.

The masked wolf girl scoffs at the idea as she addresses the four, "what is wrong with you people? Do you honestly believe that I would let you do this to my city? To my country? Maybe you didn't hear us the first time around… Or maybe the second time. We are sick and tired of being sick and tired… They were not going to take it anymore. We. The people. Will not. Take it anymore."

"Oh, I agree with that, miss golden wolf girl, ma'am. We w-were just-" while Lorelei Kerry was trying to spare her life, the masked wolf girl turned her head towards her gaining her attention. Lorelei's anxiety magnified by a thousand, "we were just playing…"

This made the masked wolf girl laugh, "I know you are. I love playing games. And you know what, I want to play too. So here are the rules," Then, she pulled out of the 9mm Beretta and shot Peter Dice in the forehead, Killer Queen in the back twice when she started running and shot Lorelei Kerry in the chest through the stuffed animal she was holding. As they all laid there dying, Breezy got kicked in the face. As he laid flat on his back, the masked wolf girl jumped off the table and walked over towards Breezy. She leaned over to Breezy and straddles him, sitting on his chest.

Looking down on her prey, the masked wolf girl makes a humorous discovery about Breezy who is nursing a broken nose, "you know, you're not as stupid as you look?"

"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment."

"Oh, I bet you do. Now more than ever, you do." The masked wolf girl emphasizes. "That is why I'm going to let you live."

Breezy being relieved, chuckles at his good fortune, "much obliged."

"But I just can't let you go, without you doing anything."

This revelation scared Breezy, "and what's that?"

The masked wolf girl leaned over to him face-to-face, "I want you to send a message. Whether if you are on the demon side or the anti-demon side, it doesn't matter to me. I belong to no side. I am nobody, and everyone is on my list. Even you. And so, you won't forget what I just said…"

Afterward, the masked wolf girl pulls out a cloth and a small can of aerosol spray consisting of foam. With the aerosol spray, she sprayed the black fabric with yellow foam resembling a smiley face. She even showed her handiwork to Breezy which confuses him, "a little visual message of my own. Something that you and everyone else will never forget."

Afterward, she rubs the cloth with the foam on Breezy's face as he screams bloody murder. It turns out that the foam was a mixture of corrosive ingredients, melting and burning the flesh off his face. Thrashing around in pain, masked wolf girl rises from his stomach. Fulfilling the what she needed to do, she went over to the corner only to find her belongings in a backpack. First, she immediately called the authorities and reported a shooting in the area. In her bag, she pulled out a makeshift banner drenched in red paint.

An hour later, the authorities locked down the crime scene. At the crime scene, there were two demon hunters; one was a blonde wolf girl with tan skin named Aurora and a brown wolf girl with pale skin named Claire. Both was called to the crime scene under different circumstances other than what they are originally here for in America, but this was a top priority because of the people who are now dead.

Both Claire and Aurora surveyed the area carefully as the first thing they saw when they enter the crime scene, was a banner written in red paint in a language they didn't understand.

"Okey-dokey, this is some fucked up shit," Aurora announced.

"I mean, I heard about these guys. It isn't that Ross, Vasqua's Ex-boyfriend?" Claire pointed out as Aurora took a good look at them.

"Oh yeah. Well, too bad and so sad. He was always a little bitch, that's why she kicked him to tha curb," Aurora teased as Claire went around the room examining the dead bodies.

"Amy 'Killer Queen' Hu from the Red Arrow? Peter Dice from Dice Logistics?"

"And don't forget that kid with a teddy bear, she's lucky that bear shielded that bullet," Aurora added.

Then, Claire made a quick revelation, "For fuck sake, these are all Gladius' lieutenants that served under when he was alive."

"So, someone came in and did our job for us? We gotta go home early? But does that mean we don't get paid?" Aurora rambles on as Claire paid attention to the banner stapled on the wall. "I bet ya any money, that's blood. Just straight up blood. I don't even know why anybody would do stuff like that now. Why don't they just use spray paint-"

While Aurora tried to get another word in, she was stuck in the neck with a dart. Immediately, she felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground. Claire sees this and rushes to her partner. But it was too late, she was completely unconscious. Feeling somebody walking behind her she pulls out her kunai and turns around preparing to fight who was behind her only to be greeted by a buff-looking, male silk moth Caterpillar demon wearing armored dark purple archery gear with a hood. He was dressed in a pair of reflecting goggles covering his eyes.

"Mrs. Schwarzenfels, it is an honor to meet you," The silk moth Caterpillar demon said. "However, this is a bit out of your jurisdiction, what brings you here all the way from Germany?"

Claire eased up on her guard, but she was still cautious, "Memento. You're the guy everybody's been talking about."

"I didn't know I had a following," Memento confirmed. "Lorelei Kerry is in critical condition, but she'll live along with Breezy who suffered second-degree burns on his entire face. Turns out she used a Lye-based compound mixed into the foam."

"These were all Gladius' lieutenants in North America. Why are they all here? Were they planning an attack or a revenge plot against us?"

"Unlikely, Mrs. Schwarzenfels," Memento corrected. "To them, when their General died, the war was over."

This made Claire roll her eyes, "I don't believe in that."

Memento shrugged his shoulders, "It's obvious they weren't planning on attacking anyone. However, judging by the blueprints that were left behind, it seems to me they were moving a massive amount of shipping materials from numerous countries to here in New York; spreading throughout the continent."

This made Claire sigh in despair, "Okay so how do you want to work this?"

"There's nothing we can do. However, you work is done here for now. I suggest, Mrs. Schwarzenfels, that you call your daughters. They're worried sick about you," Memento mocked with a grin as this upsets Claire.

"What the hell do you know about my daughters?"

Suddenly, Aurora tries to wake up and points her fingers at the guy who drugged her, wants to shoot him with her light beam, "ya sneaky son of a bitch!"

Immediately, Claire stopped her as she merely turns around to see Memento only to see no one behind her. Baffled by the encounter but more baffling about the banner that was left for everyone to see. It wasn't painted in red blood. It was regular paint. Paint you can buy in any store in New York City. The language that was written in was in Aramaic. A simple question that everyone will get to answer real soon; "do you understand?"


	4. Chapter 3

The deadly meeting was taking place at the Westside of Manhattan by the river. Primarily, the Unholy Six of New York used one of the rooms for their meeting. Aurora was being helped out of the room and out on the parking lot with the support of Claire where the NYPD is setting up the crime scene.

Aurora was still groggy and still couldn't walk straight. Suddenly, a uniformed policeman walked over to them, "Mrs. Shcwartzenfels, there someone here to see you."

Claire immediately looked behind the uniformed policeman only to see a smiling young woman waving at her. She had long purple hair and wore a purple trench coat with a magenta scarf wrapped around her neck.

"For fuck sake," Claire cursed beneath her breath as she helped her partner walk. Not before long, one of the EMTs went over to Aurora and began to work on her. It wasn't anything major but, it was the procedure.

With the excess weight gone Claire could walk over to the purple haired female a lot quicker.

The purple haired woman greeted Claire, "I must say. I know you people don't like to work well with others but, man… When you want to body somebody, you definitely body someone."

"It wasn't us, Andrea," Claire corrected.

"Detective Andrea Mercy, NYPD," Andrea corrected Claire. Andrea Mercy is not only a detective for the NYPD, but she is also an elite magician who focuses on offensive attacks such as fire. Born and raised in Manhattan, New York, she was gifted growing up. She graduated Hewitt School at the age of 13.

Afterward, she started traveling abroad to different countries and studying in various universities around the world for the last five years. At 19, she decided to go back home to New York City to become a detective. She worked up the ranks very quickly, only being a patrolman for at least a year and taking the detective exam, for which she passed with flying colors.

During this time, she usually has a fascination with demonology. With the department in need of someone who is overqualified to do such cases, Andrea Menard Mercy was a good fit. They even nicknamed her "The Goth Punk Detective" for her style of dress.

"Okay, what do you want, Detective?" Claire stoutly asked.

Andrea giggled as she explained herself, "Well I was just about to ask you the same thing. I had a call from 1PP saying that the unholy six and a couple of wolf girls are at the pier with at least almost a dozen of bodies lying before them already taking dirt naps. At first blush, I say to myself, 'SELF! These girls are not that dumb, are they? Why would they kill off Peter Dice, Doctor Ross Calisto, and Amy 'Killer Queen' Hu, leaving only Lorelei Kerry and Baby Boy Breezy to die?' Which he died on the way to the hospital I might add. Tragic."

Claire gave a deep sigh as Andrea continued, "But of course, a grizzled veteran like yourself you would be more careful. Cover your tracks if you were supposed to make a revenge killing. And you and I both know, you don't need anybody's stamp of approval for a revenge killing, if you're looking for revenge herself. But to me, this is Claire we are talking about, and you wouldn't do anything like this regardless of what the circumstances are. To be honest, you are one of the smart ones. Not smart as in you-love-how-to-read smart. Smart as in you-know-better-than-that. So, I eliminated the both of you be responsible."

"Congratulations, Detective," Claire teased.

"Thank you," Andrea nodded. "But as we all know a grizzled veteran who wants to get things done especially on her own terms would be very thorough into being unseen. Which this is the reason why we are both here. So, what does He want, Claire? He knows this is our turf."

Claire took offense to this and got into Andrea's face, "This turf never really belonged to you, little girl. And last time I checked I don't need your permission to do my job."

This made Andrea laugh, "Oh, I get it. You only ask for help when is beneficial to you and not to others. My goodness. And to think years ago, I figured you have all learned your lesson."

"You don't know anything. You're just a child!" Claire lashed out as Andrea shrugged her shoulders and rebutted in a playful manner.

"Hey, I'm not the one with the word 'savaged' written on my four head. I mean, the least you can do is to say 'hi' to me. Or give me a fucking phone call and say, 'Hey, Goth Punk Detective, I got a lead on a couple of cases of my own. How about we work together?' You know, something like that."

All jokes aside, Andrea became serious, "Communication, Claire. That's all we ask from you and everyone else in your camp now. But if you want to act like who is the alpha female here, let me just clear up something for you right here."

Making her intentions clear, Andrea got into Claire's face, showing no intimidation whatsoever, "at least my team is unified as one. There is no ancient history. We just get shit done. Instead of you bitches are hating on us for doing your job five years ago, why don't you go ahead and take notes. Maybe then you'll learn something after 5000 years. Now, if you excuse me, I have a crime scene to investigate."

As Andrea makes her way to the crime scene leaving Claire behind, she turns around and looks at the Goth Punk Detective walking away. She couldn't feel cross about what Andrea said to her. She was right. They were never really as unified as they needed to be. They got along just to work together; for the sake of their master. However, it wasn't good enough.

A few moments later, Andrea made her way to the crime scene. There was blood everywhere. Broken chairs and of course broken bodies. Andrea wasted no time trying to reenact the crime scene. She activated her abilities and written a green-glowing magic circle in the air. Finished, she places her palm on the circle and lets out a small prayer, "Focus."

At that moment, she activated her post-cognitive spell as she begins to reenact the events.

"Killing the vampire wannabe will be very easy. How in the world I slip past here is beyond me. Victory to stumpy," Andrea said as she reenacted throwing a steel stake through Doctor Ross Calisto's heart.

"I have already won, you're scared. You can run, but you cannot hide, you can hide, but you cannot run. Decisions, decisions. Should I take my time with you— no, I should play it safe," Andrea reenacted the murdering scene. She finds herself rolling a small cylinder towards their feet. The small cylinder started to blink red frequently as the lights went off abruptly. Then the small cylinder ended up flashing strobe light. It turns out that the small cylinder was not only a bomb, but it was a strobe light flash bomb, blinding the henchmen.

"Counterclockwise, like clockwork…" Then she reenacted herself rushing one of the henchmen and slit his throat. Being dead before he hit the floor she went over to another henchman and stabbed in the chest; she picked him up with one arm in slammed him on the table; stabbing him a few more times in chest for the safe measure while throwing him to the ground.

While one of the henchmen tries to shoot at the masked woman, she dodge-rolled out of the way and kicked in the stomach, sending him off his feet, "so basic… How much should they pay you?"

Then she reenacted stabbing the two henchmen in the heart.

As one of the other henchmen try to sneak up on her, she gracefully dodge-rolled out of the way again only to sneak up behind him stabbing him in the spine, killing him.

The impatient one of the two remaining henchmen ran up to her to grab her, only to be stabbed in the chest three times and kicked in the stomach, sending him to the ground on his back.

Paying attention to the henchmen behind her, she simply slit his throat and stomach. Finally, she looked over at the remaining and dying henchmen as she jumps and lands on him stabbing him in the throat; twisting it, so the wound won't close, finishing him off. Rising from the corpse, she successfully neutralized the threat in the room. As the flash bomb dissipated, the fluorescent lights in the room went on again.

"Focus off," Andrea deactivated her post-cognitive spell. She didn't really have to reenact Amy 'Killer Queen' Hu and Peter Dice getting shot.

Afterward, she went over to the makeshift flyer made with red paint. She immediately translated the message, "I understand. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

Immediately, she dug out her smart phone in her jacket pocket. She left the room and called an old friend of hers. It's been a while since she talked to him. With her new promotion and his new position his mother gave him, it will be fun to catch up for once. Even talk about his knucklehead brother she is very fond of.


	5. Chapter 4

Meanwhile, driving in her sports car as fast as she could without being pulled over, Schnee successfully fled the scene. She turned on the satellite radio to calm her nerves; it was a nightly FM radio show called "The 1300" which talks about current events all over the world.

 ** _"Hello, everyone. My name is Marguerite Fuchs, and this is January 5, 2020, version of '1300.' Our top story of tonight is the upcoming fifth anniversary of the tragic event which happened in England claiming 522 lives and injuring thousands._**

 ** _"Now being called as the Holy Hire Bombing, in which a group of demon hunters was pursuing a suspect. In many reports, one of them armed with an electrical weapon, shot at the supposed missile to disarm it. Unbeknownst to the demon hunters, it was a Mark 77 bomb containing white phosphorus, only to trigger it causing an explosion._**

 ** _"The horrifying event was caught on film as the city of London was showered in a mixture of white gas and fire. Mainly, the white phosphorus bomb took out many of Gladius' mercenaries, who were conspired to take part in another global war._**

 ** _"Thankfully, those plans were halted after the incident occurred, causing Gladius and his unidentified lieutenants and operatives to escape. Unfortunately, the members of this demon hunter squad have been disavowed, and no further information about them has been released to the public._**

 ** _"Seven months later, an intricate leak was discovered. A whistleblower who has claimed to work with the demon hunters for many years broke their silence. Although, their names and likenesses were not leaked. However, who they were caused a bigger stir amongst the public. It turns out that the demon hunters were demons themselves and they have acted independently to stop this menace._**

 ** _"Hours after the leak, many national broadcasters over the world wanted to question the Demon Academy in Germany and their principal, only to be met by an explosion; eradicating the entire Demon Academy and leaving no evidential traces of the Holy Hire Bombing and anything else._**

 ** _"It has been five years almost to the date of the bombing. An event that changed our world about humans, demons, and selphiel just to name a few alike; causing constant awareness and understanding without murder._**

 ** _"Many protesters believe the people who are responsible for rebuilding the Demon Academy are only be forging bad memories of oppressed demons who in large part have been wholly misunderstood and had no other options to act accordingly due to society's misconceptions of them and benefiting on their blatant ignorance._**

 ** _"While the former faculty of the Demon Academy was not on file and the old Demon Academy students who have taken a code of silence, most say it is a new regime who will take over the faults of the crestfallen Demon Academy of the past._**

 ** _"Two days from now in Germany, there will be a new institution to understand demons and their way of life, and the new faculty along with many other world leaders will be in attendance."_**

Afterward, Schnee turned off the radio. She didn't want to hear more about it. She remembered the entire incident in London better than anyone else. It was a nightmare. A complete and utter nightmare. Till this day, she can still smell the burnt flesh of her comrades and innocent people. But, she has other problems to worry about.

Arriving at the main entrance of Waldorf Astoria. She got out of the car and wasted no time getting to the 19th floor as she ran up the steps. Less than a minute, she went into her luxury suite with Hyena, Laika, and Empress sitting around watching television.

Unbeknownst to Schnee, she had a little bit of Ross' blood on her dress. Hyena sees this and immediately freaks out, "Schnee, what the hell happened to you?"

"What do you think?" Schnee answered as she quickly went into Hyena's room… And walk up the bellboy who was tied up to Hyena's bed. He cut him loose and drag them out of bed, taking his clothing with him to the door, "You! Leave! Now!"

"But, can I get a shower first?" The bellboy pleaded.

"Use another room," Schnee denied as she threw him out of the suite.

Seeing this erratic behavior, Hyena held her friend and tried to console her as she was breathing heavily, "Schnee, calm down. What happened?"

Schnee tried to calm herself by looking around the room. She just couldn't believe what just happened. How could anybody found out about this? How could they take out the Unholy Six? But most importantly, she consistently said to herself that it could've been her instead of Calisto, "they took them out."

"What?!" Hyena exclaimed.

"Someone got them. Ross, Peter, Amy, everyone. They're all dead," Schnee explained.

"Impossible…" Empress was lost for words.

"See, I told you! I said that fuck-head is playing for keeps now!" Hyena accused.

"Okay, okay. Let's just all recollect for the time being," Empress rationalizing the situation. "Did you actually see this person, Schnee."

"Are you kidding me?" Schnee denied. "I was only a foot away from Ross when some asshole threw a stake through his heart. I took the documents, and I ran."

"Then it's not Memento," Empress concluded.

"Well, you don't know about that either. You weren't there, remember?" Hyena debated as the four moved their conversation to the kitchen.

Empress was more annoyed than worried as she went to the refrigerator and got herself a can of sparkling water, "by the looks of things, Ross had a lot of enemies, way before we ever met him. Let's face facts, there is a reason why I have recruited all six of these men and women. They all needed something, and they were willing to do anything to get it. We didn't have to corrupt them. They corrupted themselves. We just enabled that corruption.

Empress continued as she opened the can of sparkling water poured it into the glass, "Keep them hungry and at the same time have them well-fed. It worked, considering. If only someone didn't light that fuse, we would've had another global war on her hands. But, that never happened. Master's beloved pet puppy, fucked up everything for us."

"I am so sick and tired of this trip down memory lane," Hyena resented.

"In short, I'm surprised they lasted this long," Empress examined the glass of sparkling water, watching all the little bubbles flowing to the surface as she gives every one of them meaning and purpose, "we are survivors, my fellow phantoms. That's what we do best. We survive."

"Ah, but of course. Using necessary evils to survive," an unknown female voice spoke as the four turned around only to see another woman behind them.

It was a Korean fox girl with long black hair and yellow eyes. Her attractive measurements are an example of an hourglass body type, wearing an elegant short red kimono robe with stylish design details with high waisted deep garnet red geo-fire printed leggings and high heel boots.

"Who in the fuck are you?!" Hyena shrieked.

"Pardon my bold interruption, ladies, but I am here on behalf of her Majesty. I have arrived here tonight to bestow upon you an important announcement; to be sure such information is handed to you in person, Ms. Sabretooth." The female black fox kemonomimi announced.

 ** _I didn't feel her aura… Who the fuck is she?_** Hyena thought.

Empress, however, tried to make the best of the situation. It's obvious this girl was just a messenger, "Her Majesty? Where did you come from?"

"My dear girl, I was here the entire time," she boasted.

"YOU WERE HERE THE ENTIRE TIME?!" Hyena yelled.

"Yes, even when you all brutalized that poor Black Wolf boy who gave you all room service. Mostly you, Hyena. But I am not here to handle such transgressions. Allow me to-"

Hyena was fed up. She wasn't going to give this little pissant an inch. She grabbed the little Fox girl by her collar as a gentle feminine laughter came from her lips and carried into the air. It seems so out of place but, Hyena didn't even pay any attention to it.

The mysterious Fox girl's approach was silent and graceful beyond anything Hyena, a trained professional killer has ever experienced. The first counter sent tremors of pain throughout her entire body when she dual knife chopped Hyena's neck. The next knocked her down to her knees, paralyzed in sensation by using a couple of open palm strikes to the abdomen. Then the third rendered any kind of consciousness as she grabbed her by the hair and hammer fisted Hyena at the back of her neck, sending her to the ground.

Afterward, the remaining three stood in awe as the little Fox girl unflinchingly continued where she left off, "-formally introduce myself to you all. My name is Moon. Noel Moon, a royal advisor of N.D.E."

Both Laika and Schnee immediately looked at Empress to find any kind of reaction. Strangely enough, Empress was impressed which is very hard to do nowadays, "Noel Moon, huh? Something tells me you are more than just another errand girl. Or else you wouldn't be here in the middle of the night asking for somebody like us for attention."

"Precisely, Madame," Noel confirmed. "I really am ashamed of my own actions. I really didn't mean to hurt one of your cohorts in such a manner. Given her history, I felt it was in my best interest to take better of myself by defending my own honor."

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Empress disavows. "She usually makes a grain of salt to a mountain quite quickly sometimes. By the looks of you, you're not really normal yourself."

"Why, yes, of course. I am also a demon," Noel confirms. "However, what I am and who I am should not be any of your concern. Indeed, I am one of you. But we are not the same. But it doesn't mean I share your concern."

"Yes. Noel Moon, royal advisor girl. You beat up Hyena, and now you speak riddles," Laika added.

"You must excuse me. I do sometimes go off in my little world and do talk outside of my space." Noel admitted. "The reason why I came here tonight was to inform you all on what such transgressions with the Unholy Six of New York. Such tragedy. Such loyalty wasted."

"Well, what can you do?" Empress blew off.

"I do believe you were in the process on not only distributing the six crates that used to belong to Gladius. It seems to me Gladius' lieutenants were intent on taking these items for themselves."

"I couldn't care less what they wanted to do with them. I just wanted to know what he had," Empress admitted.

"Indeed. Curiosity can be very dangerous at times, but also necessary. Madame, you were correct about being curious about what Gladius kept from you. I can guarantee you this. You wouldn't have profited from it. For those who know how to wield such immense power, it is priceless."

"So, he did have one. That bastard did have one… And he didn't even bother telling me…" Empress reflected.

"Had what exactly?" Schnee asked.

"An equalizer for the war that we were supposed to have. Something that would take the demon nation to such great heights, he said. Something that mirrored his own power. The G.K. 'The Gladius Killer,'" Empress explained as Noel nodded.

"As of right now coming from several different production plants, several parts to make the G.K. were in storage. Since his untimely passing, most of these parts were back on the market. You have purchased these items legally. However, I hate to inform you or should I say I regretfully inform you that these items are now gone." Noel explained.

"How can they be gone? You mean somebody stole them?" Empress asked.

"Precisely," Noel answered.

"Who would take such machines?" Laika asked.

"The same man who built them. Or should I say, the same family who made them," Noel teased.

"Redgrave…" Empress guessed correctly as Noel nodded.

On the floor, Hyena came to her senses as she took huge gasps of air and exhaled painfully.

As Schnee walked over to her friend Hyena and helped her up, Noel continued, "the Redgrave family nearly had a change of heart. Just like any other company of the Redgrave family, they would have handsomely profited from the war."

"They just had cold feet," Laika added.

"Even your own master had cold feet. It would have been rivers of blood. Even though many people love war, this war would've been the end of the world as we know it."

"So, what does this 'N.D.E.' wants from us?" Empress asked the burning question.

This was Noel's cue. She brought a little satchel with her in the contents inside contains workups and locations. Noel handed the leader of the Phantoms the satchel, "she wants you to leave New York City immediately and do a mission for her-"

"No," Hyena denied flatly.

"My word, Madame Hyena, your leader hasn't even opened the satchel yet—"

"I don't care. No!" Hyena denied flatly again as Noel sighs in discontent.

"Then I am ever so grateful, you're not the one making the decisions-"

"Go to hell!" Hyena snapped.

"Take a pill, Hyena. I haven't even said anything yet," Empress chastised.

"As well as you all should deliberate on it. If you all decide to stay for a couple of days, Gladius' crates will arrive here in New York City promptly tomorrow night. Sadly, you will not find anything that you are looking for. Be that as it may, this is a time sensitive mission so every second count. Read the workups and the location and the primary objectives of the mission. Once you have decided, regardless if you accept it or deny it, her Majesty would love to have all four of you at her mansion. Even though we are still renovating, our home is quite presentable now. Good evening, ladies," Noel bids farewell as she takes a bow and leaves the suite.

The Phantoms are left somewhat with a lot of answers, but with a whole array of questions. Empress wasted no time going inside the satchel and pulling out the contents. It was a huge binder filled with pages of the latest prototype mech, the GK-7. Sketches, blueprints, configurations and speculations of the prototype.

Empress was impressed, "I don't know this Noel character or her boss. How in the hell did they get their hands on classified paperwork? Hell, even my best shadow operatives and hackers couldn't get anywhere close to these. Meanwhile, someone walked in here and just gave it to us."

"Makes you wonder. We might end up using this for our benefit," Schnee speculated.

"No, I don't think so. Why wouldn't her boss give this to us?" Empress questioned. "Because she knew, even if we tried to replicate what we have, we can't."

"And let's not forget the UN is keeping an eye on not only us but everyone almost involved in the war. What we have here is a breach of contract of immunity," Hyena added. "Which brings us to Noel's boss, N.D.E. I don't trust them. The UN is waiting for us to screw up again."

"More good reason to stay and wait for the crates," Laika suggested. It wasn't that bad of a suggestion either. To Empress, it was very logical. Stay for a couple of days and wait for the crates. If Noel is right, they go and see her. If she is wrong, they get what's inside the crates and follow the mission initially.

"Well, I do want to see a matinee tomorrow," Empress flirted.

"I guess it can't hurt staying here for a couple of days in the city," Hyena relented.

"Okay then, let's just relax and hang tight until the crates come tomorrow. Until then, let's stay out of trouble."

"Ooh, can I go shopping?" Schnee urged.

Empress was sincere with her words, "Of course. Consider this as you not only earning it but deserving it after tonight."

"Yay, I'll get cleaned up and get ready for tomorrow!" She clamored as she went to her room to get a shower.

"Yeah, I think we should all follow suit. Let's get some rest, my fellow phantoms. The only viable option is to wait and hope," Empress announced. When Laika was about to go into her own separate room, Empress stopped Hyena for a moment, "by the way, Hyena."

Hyena turns around to face Empress as she continued, "no matter what happens, we got to find out what's inside these crates. Even if it means working with Noel. Redgrave can't have their hands on it. We can't let them."

"If you want me to play nice with that Ahri wannabe, then we're good. For me to hate her, I have to care about her first," Hyena declared as she goes to her own room, leaving Empress behind the kitchen.

Empress couldn't help glancing through the binder one more time. Such a deadly weapon for Gladius to have in his possession without anybody knowing. Gladius wasn't a man who shied away from showing off his own strength, and he'd never used any kind of weapon since he prided himself on not using any. To Empress, this was alarming, because she knew Gladius more than anyone and this was the absolute and undeniable truth about his own secret, "who were you afraid of, Gladius, and why?"


	6. Chapter 5

Meanwhile, Andrea was on the rooftop of her own precinct that she worked, the 20th precinct. Standing by a searchlight, a silk moth caterpillar demon came out of the shadows, wearing armored dark purple archery gear with a hood. He was dressed in a pair of reflecting goggles covering his eyes. Andrea turns around to see her dear friend and colleague as Memento Dark walks towards her.

Andrea critiques the new look, "Ah, so I see you have ditched the old rags that your mother gave you. Quite nice. It makes you look like you are serious about saving the day and all that."

Memento Dark couldn't help but laugh a little as he fired back, "well, Goth Punk Detective. I have to stay current."

"Oh, I forgot. It's Goth Punk Lieutenant in a couple of weeks," Andrea posted. "You really did have one hell of a rookie year, Memento. Going one-on-one with Empress Sabretooth, putting the unholy six of New York on notice…"

"But…" Memento Dark contradicted.

"The unholy six are done. And Bernard 'Breezy' Evans died on his way to the hospital, leaving Lorelei Kenny in Bellevue."

"As much as I detest murder, it was only a matter of time before somebody would try to make a name off them," Memento Dark said.

"And that's the problem. There is always going to be someone bigger and better coming up the ranks. Testing us, trying to prove the world," Andrea ranted.

"Of course, there is always going to be somebody better. That's why we must stay focused. Nobody ever thought a couple of bugs and couple of magicians would defy the will of a God or in many cases, demigods and not only live but win. That gave humanity a chance to become better. It gave everyone the opportunity to become better. Even them," Memento Dark lectured.

"Well, you know what they say. The best help or the best things in life, you don't really want, or you don't really plan for. The only question is, are you going to take it?" Andrea asked. Memento Dark had an answer for the question but as he knows all too well any answer to her question is a wrong one.

Afterward, Andrea spoke about the crime scene, "so I have taken a look around the warehouse. The seven men who were protecting the unholy six were former military; SAS, Spetsnaz, even United States Marine Cops. One of them even served as a CTO in England five years earlier. I would guess it was the demon hunters with their master wanted to stamp out any threat to his new University he is reopening a couple of days from now."

"At first sight, the public would think so," Memento Dark counterpointed. "Looking at the scene, there was only one killer responsible. But it wasn't out of revenge. It was a reckoning. Let's be honest, over the years, things have become way too comfortable. People are enjoying this somewhat cease-fire, and nobody wants to jeopardize it."

"I guess everybody who wants things to go back to the way things were, are just trying to regroup and its back on that pale horse again," Andrea lectured.

"It won't be too easy for them. More than ever, humans are more efficient to stop daemonic threats without murder. And there has been more positive human/demon/selphiel relations than it's ever been thanks to the incident in England."

This revelation shocked Andrea, "Let me get this straight, are you happy that the demon hunters failed?"

Memento Dark shook his head and disagreement, "Nobody won, Andrea. And that was the point. We all lost. We were all broken. And we had two choices. I'm just glad everyone made the safest choices."

This made Andrea giggle as she playfully punched Memento Dark's arm, "you sound just like your mother. What's next, your gonna watch what I eat?"

"No, that's Chloe's job," Memento Dark chuckles.

Memento Dark and Andrea Mercy are the best of friends. In fact, Andrea knows the identity of Memento Dark and his older brother, Sidewinder. But that is another story.

"So, where is Rahkaze?" Andrea asked.

"He's around. But he is getting ready for his trip to Germany."

"You're not going?"

"I'm needed here. Besides, there's nothing out there for me but ghosts waiting to expire. Supposedly, Claire and Aurora will give the invite to us in person. But that's just speculation."

"Maybe they might give him that degree that he already earned," Andrea suggested.

"Even though he was trained to be a demon hunter, he refuses to be one," Memento Dark explains.

"Man, do I really want to be a fly on that wall tomorrow," Andrea laughed out loud.

"They were plenty of issues before any of us ever went to the Demon Academy. Unsettled differences that finally caught up to the hunters," Memento Dark admitted.

"Oh, your brother will be okay. Yeah, he can put his own tail in his mouth and suck down his own gas, but he'll be fine," Andrea encourages as this puts a smile on Memento Dark's face. "As for me, I'm not worried. There was nothing lost. Nothing to gain. They have only themselves to blame."


	7. Chapter 6

NoHo, for North of Houston Street (as contrasted with SoHo, South of Houston Street) is a landmarked, primarily residential upper-class neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is bounded by Broadway to the west and the Bowery to the East, and on East 9th Street in the north to East Houston Street in the south.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission has declared most of the 125-building area a historic district, divided into the NoHo Historic District and the NoHo East Historic District, created in 2003.

In 1748, Jacob Sperry, a physician from Switzerland, created the city's first botanical garden near the current intersection of Lafayette Street and Astor Place. At the time, it was located about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the developed portion of the city and served as a vacation stop for people from present-day downtown.

By 1804, John Jacob Astor bought the site from Sperry and leased it to Joseph Delacroix. Delacroix built a country resort named Vauxhall Gardens on the site; the gardens had previously been located further downtown, in Tribeca.

NoHo soon became an enclave for well-to-do families. Because of rapid development on Bond, Bleecker, and Great Jones Streets, it was not affordable to build houses on these streets. These streets were among the city's most elite at the time and contained such personalities as "aristocratic" Mayor Philip Hone.

Therefore, in 1826, after Delacroix's lease expired. Astor carved out an upper-class neighborhood from the site with Lafayette Street bisecting eastern gardens from western homes. The street was christened by the Marquis de Lafayette in July 1825.

Wealthy New Yorkers, including Astor and other members of the family, built mansions along this central thoroughfare. Astor built the Astor Library in the eastern portion of the neighborhood as a donation to the city. Alexander Jackson Davis designed eye-catching row houses called LaGrange Terrace (now Colonnade Row) for speculative builder Seth Geer.

Geer built the houses for the development in 1833. The area became a fashionable, upper-class residential district, and when Lafayette Street was opened in the 1820s, it quickly became one of the most fashionable streets in New York. This location made the Gardens accessible to the residents of nearby Broadway and the Bowery.

The houses once contained such notable residents as the Astor family and the Vanderbilt family, in addition to authors Washington Irving, Charles Dickens, and William Makepeace Thackeray; U.S. President John Tyler was married in these houses.

In the summer of 1838, the garden's owners opened a saloon for the staging of vaudeville comic operas. Later theater managers expanded the offerings to appeal to a wider range of patrons. By 1850, the rowdier crowds of the Bowery had mostly scared of the upper classes, and fewer people came to the Vauxhall Gardens. The theater buildings were demolished in 1855, and the gardens closed for the last time in 1859.

Even so, wealthy New Yorkers lived here through the end of the 19th century. Editor and poet William Cullen Bryant and inventor and entrepreneur Isaac Singer lived in the neighborhood in the 1880s. By the 20th century, however, warehouses and manufacturing firms moved in, the elite moved to places such as Murray Hill, and the area fell into disrepair.

By the 1880s, the neighborhood became mainly a manufacturing district, especially around the relatively full Bond Street. Terracotta and brick "loft" buildings were among the new buildings being constructed in this time, and construction of such buildings continued into the 1890s, in the Greek Revival architectural style in homage to the mansions that formerly occupied the area.

The demolition of upper-class buildings continued, and by 1902, the southernmost five mansions on Colonnade Row were demolished for the Wanamaker's Department Store Annex. Most of the mansions on Bond Street, though, lasted through the 1930s.

After World War II, manufacturing companies moved out of New York City and to the suburbs. By the 1950s, these spaces were rented to artists and small theater companies. The artists had to go through extensive litigation to live and work in these areas. By 1960, there were more artist residents than businesses in these loft spaces.

Among the famous artist residents at the time were Robert Mapplethorpe, who bought a loft in NoHo; Chuck Close, who lived next to him; and street artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol. The neighborhood was revitalized beginning in the late 1960s and 1970s. The art movement of the 1970s and the preservation movements of the 1990s and 2000s also helped to revitalize the area.

The NoHo Historic District was expanded in 2008. Additionally, another district in the neighborhood, the NoHo East Historic District, was created in 2003. The designations followed a considerable effort by and strong support from numerous local community and preservation groups, including the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and Historic Districts Council, and together, they form a contiguous area of landmarked buildings over 21 city blocks.

The 2008 extension is bounded on the west by Lafayette Street, on the east by the Bowery, on the north by East Fourth Street and on the south by Bond Street. It includes 56 buildings and a mid-block parking lot to the south and east of the existing Noho Historic District. It does not include 30 Great Jones Street, a historic building that was partially demolished in early 2008.

Most of the buildings in the extension were built between the 1860s and the early 1900s when the area had become one of the city's major commercial and manufacturing districts. By the late 1800s, larger industrial lofts in the Greek Revival style became the dominant building type.

The Merchant's House Museum, at 29 East Fourth Street, is an individual historic building located just outside the eastern boundary of the Historic District. It is also a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Both the inside and outside of this 1832 house have been restored to the mid-19th-century style in which merchant Seabury Tredwell and his family lived.

Despite the fragility of the structure, in April 2014 the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission approved construction of an eight-story hotel immediately next door. Preservationists including City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the Historic Districts Council and the Museum itself fought the proposed hotel for years due to concern for the intact survival of the Merchant's House. The LPC approved it over the objections of engineers and architects.

The next day on that warm winter morning, a young silk moth caterpillar demon is still sleeping in his bed in his loft apartment. He wanted to take a sick day, but this week was imperative. His brother is already at the office, and he was already waiting for him. For good measure, he had his assistant call him promptly at 9 AM on his smartphone.

Next to his bed, the smartphone rings. Wrestling with his own consciousness, the young silk moth caterpillar demon manages to wake up and answers the phone.

"Zayne," the silk moth caterpillar demon groggily answers.

"Moraciel! Thank goodness you're awake at this hour!" A cheeky female voice chimed.

"Yes, Sylvia, I am awake," Moraciel confirms.

Moraciel Zayne is an 18-year-old silk moth caterpillar demon. At the young age of eight, he was tested with an IQ of 162. With this intelligence, he quickly passed not only grade school but high school in the span of three years. Not old enough to go to college, he traveled abroad with his mother and father all over the world learning about engineering. At age 13, he became the youngest student of the Demon Academy.

"Well, that's a good thing because we need you to do some more troubleshooting," Sylvia notified.

"All right, tell my brother I am on my way," Moraciel said.

"Now, I don't want you to rush yourself. He and I know for a fact you had a busy night. So please take your time, grasshopper," Samantha urged.

"I will, Sylvia. See you soon," Moraciel confirmed as he hung up the phone. He climbs out of bed, and he said to stretch; walking around the apartment, trying to wake up.

It was a very modestly decorated setting; a one-bedroom with a bathroom. It also had a medium-sized kitchen and a living room with fireplace which he rarely uses.

Usually, he follows his basic morning routine. First, he immediately goes to the bathroom to relieve himself. Afterward, he does is morning exercises which consist of yoga stretching and meditation for an hour. After his meditation, he has breakfast. Since he has a strict diet and being a silk moth caterpillar demon, he's pretty much a vegan. For breakfast, he has a fresh fruit salad with agave dressing and herbal tea with soy milk and raw sugar. While eating his breakfast, he reads the daily news on his laptop.

After breakfast, he takes a bath. For weeks now, he tried to make his own soap out of oatmeal and Aloe Vera. Pleased with the outcome of the soap, he ended up making more and gave some to his friends.

After he takes his bath, he looks at himself in the mirror and washes his face. He cleans out his ears, shines up his horns on top of his head and combs his shoulder length hair in that order.

Finally, he gets dressed. He wears a purple hooded sweatshirt and wraps a multi-colored sarong around his lower body.

Afterward, he recites a Latin prayer for protection and for good luck for the day ahead.

He grabs his purple silk satchel containing his lunch, snacks, and laptop. He heads out the door locking it behind him as he makes his way to his workplace, Zayne Enterprises; a diversified multinational conglomerate is owned and chaired by Revan Zayne, Moraciel's Mother. Zayne Enterprises is a green company and headquartered in a building called The Ebony Stronghold in Dubai.


	8. Chapter 7

Zayne Enterprises are primarily run by business manager Mordechai Zayne, who is Revan's wife. Mordechai makes most company decisions on Revan's behalf since she is traveling over the world doing important work.

Founded by merchant ancestors of the Zayne family in the 18th century as a merchant house; it is among the oldest surviving companies being owned by demons. The company began as a dozen businesses started by Solomon Zayne and Joshua Dunne. With the revenue generated, Solomon Zayne mostly helped rebuilt Dubai with the House of Al-Falasi.

Solomon Zayne's son and heir, Masir Zayne, officially made it a corporate company in the 19th century. Masir Zayne, who was Moraciel and Rahkaze's Zayne's great, great grandfather, erected Zayne Shipping, Zayne Chemical, and Zayne Manufacturing. All these companies were energized by the world's Industrial Revolution; more branches were created and diversified while others dwindled and were discarded. Along the years, it has developed from a merchant house to a large multinational conglomerate company; exceeding every other company in the world.

Under the control of Patice and Masir Zayne, Zayne Enterprises became a "green company" and environmentally conscious from that time forward.

The Ebony Stronghold is the headquarters of Zayne Enterprises; it was built in 1888 by Masir Zayne. After its construction, the tower was one of the tallest buildings in the world. Built as a symbol of demonic prominence, The Ebony Stronghold has erected 10 statues of the Gods or "Guardians," which Masir Zayne insisted they be called, watching the 10 ways across the world, overseeing different races.

At the top of the tower is an observation deck which Masir Zayne asserted be open to the public for free every weekend. It has double bonded laminated float glass for windows that are crystal-quality, weatherproof, and unbreakable. The newly erected building in New York City were Moraciel and Rahkaze works is seemingly identical to the one in Dubai with a few hidden changes and improvements.

While Moraciel was heading to the office, his brother Rahkaze is in his office working in Zayne Enterprises New York on the 34th floor.

Outside his office, there is a waiting lobby with a flat-screen TV, a table filled with snacks and beverages, comfortable furniture and a leggy administrative assistant who is a dark elf named Sylvia Orchid. Sylvia is about the same age as Rahkaze has green eyes with short pink hair with one bang covering her left eye. Her attitude is a bit catty, but deep down she is a sweet-hearted person once you get to know her.

Sylvia had her feet up, playing video games on her Nintendo Switch until suddenly a small black wolf kemonomimi and a tall brown wolf kemonomimi made their way to the administrative assistant's desk.

The brown wolf kemonomimi made herself known, "excuse me."

Without even looking, Sylvia greeted them, "Welcome to Zayne Enterprises, this is the project manager's office. How may I assist you?"

"Well for starters, we have an interview with Rahkaze Zayne. Would you let him know we are here?" the brown wolf kemonomimi demanded as the dark elf looked up and recognize them.

"I would, of course, we had been expecting you. Hold on one second," Sylvia urged as she took her feet off the desk and went to her cell phone and called her boss. Strangely enough, she spoke in a different language, _"mihla, Rahkaze ... walkulubat aldhdhib athnyn mithlak almutawaqqaeat hi huna min 'almania ... ma kunt turid minni 'ann 'afeal maeahuma? yafhim."_ She immediately hung up the phone and rose from her chair, straightening out her dress, "please, follow me. He will see you now."

Sylvia walks towards the entrance to Rahkaze's office and opens the door for them. As the small black wolf kemonomimi went inside the office first and the brown wolf Kemonomimi stood around and confronted the assistant with an evil smile, "don't think for a second I didn't catch what you said about us just now. I suggest you better watch yourself."

With a smirk of her own, she downplayed her little threat, "Mister Zayne will see you now."

After the exchange the brown wolf kemonomimi went into Rahkaze's office as a long-haired silk moth caterpillar demon wearing business attire was already sitting down in is chair.

Rahkaze Zayne is a 23-year-old silk moth caterpillar demon. As of right now, he is the business manager of Zayne Enterprises New York, overseeing the day-to-day operations.

Being courteous, Rahkaze rose from his chair and extended his clawed hand for a handshake, "Miss Minori Yamato and Mrs. Claire Schwarzenfels, welcome."

Minori gladly shook his hand while Claire was a bit reluctant in doing so.

"Thank you for your time, Rahkaze-san," Minori greeted.

"No problem at all. Have a seat, ladies," Rahkaze sat back on his chair, and the two women sat right across from him in the vacant chairs.

"Something to drink? My assistant can get it for you," Rahkaze offered.

Claire remembering that bitch elf, thought better of it, "I'll pass."

Rahkaze smirked, "I have already received your invitation from your master who has named himself the headmaster of his new Academy. I already told him over the phone-"

"You'll be there, we know," Claire finished as she went to the real reason why they are here. "I want to meet him."

This make Rahkaze cock an eyebrow, "meet who exactly?"

"Memento, I want to meet him," Claire clarified.

"Oh, I get it. Since he and I are the same kinds of a demon, you think we know each other. That's racist," Rahkaze comically accused.

"That is not racist, Rahkaze-san," Minori flatly denied as Rahkaze shrugged his shoulders.

"I call it as I see it."

 ** _And it begins,_** Minori thought.

"Memento has been absent ever since the old Academy burnt down and then in the past year, there have been sporadic appearances. And it appears he or she has 'devolved' as of late," Claire accused.

"Whether you want to admit it or not, Memento has been helpful with the NYPD and working side-by-side with the people for over the past year all over the world. Some say he is a silent protector who doesn't need anyone's approval. Unlike some people, we got to know very well," Rahkaze explained as Claire was getting sick and tired of Rahkaze's backhanded comments.

"Watch yourself, Rahkaze. You're no different from anyone else. Still trying to get your mommy's approval."

This made Rahkaze laugh, "apparently, you know my history with the old Academy."

Claire scoffed, "unlike you, child, I'm not a quitter."

"And unlike you or should I tell any of you, I don't let someone take the fall for something they didn't do. By the way, how is the big guy? Is he still teaching? I heard he quit."

This was getting out of hand. The snide putdowns with becoming more savage by the moment. Minori decisively stepped in, "Rahkaze-san, Claire-chan, there is no need for this kind of bickering!"

Unfortunately for Minori, Rahkaze saw the opening, "I don't know, Minori-chan, you have come to **_my_** workplace, demanded **_me_** to go overseas to some party **_I_** do not want to even attend to, you insult my family and me by making a blatant accusation, and you question **_my_** character. But then again, I don't expect anything less from a bunch of people who don't even value us and only look at us mortals as feeble or inferior. I guess it comes with the territory when I God creates a bunch of Mary Sues to do his dirty work for him."

After hearing that, all that Minori can do is shake her head and respond the best she could, "I know we haven't been the most supportive of you when you started your journey with us, and most of us were harsh on you deliberately. I included. My excuse was to bring the best out of you. Others wanted to malign you for personal reasons. I can't be sorry for them because themselves must be accountable for their own actions. But you got to get over being mad at all of us and accept our hand in friendship and be understanding because if we don't work together right now, history will undoubtedly repeat itself in the future."

Rahkaze thought about her sincere words for a moment and gave some sincere words of his own, "I am sorry, Minori. I regret that I wasn't created to not give a shit and brush off the ashes of innocent people off my shoulders like it was dirt."

This angered Minori even more as she tries to regain her composure with a smile on her face, "whatever… Whatever lead you to think this way, whether if it was your mother or yourself, is toxic and you will regret the words you speak of."

After hearing that, Rahkaze nonchalantly threw his hands up, "there is a lot of things in life I truly regret. Saying was on my mind is not one of them. I guess they call it 'freedom?' But freedom is an illusion created by your so-called masters."

With a coy smile, Minori nodded, "that's right, Rahkaze-san, keep thinking that way. So, I guess you'll be there tomorrow night."

"I wouldn't miss it. I already packed my bags," Rahkaze smiled.

Both Minori and Claire rose out of the chairs. While Minori left the office, Claire stood behind and gave some final words of her own, "one more thing. Tell your brother he's doing a great job. He's doing way better than his own mother."

"Thank you, Claire. He is one of our rising stars when it comes to engineering. He is a highly skilled inventor as well," Rahkaze happily accepted the compliment as Claire left the office.

Rahkaze took this time to compose himself. It was clearly obvious they weren't here to give them a personal invitation to their new Academy. Why were they here in the first place was not a true mystery; They had been trying to build or rebuild the reputation ever since the incident in London, England. Too little, too late.

Still, to this day, there is a lot of distrust and skepticism between the global public and the demon hunters. So much that independent demon hunting has been outlawed and regulated to the recognizable authorities such as Interpol and NYPD, just to name a couple.

Sylvia entered Rahkaze's office moments after the two wolf kemonomimis left the floor. She leaned over to Rahkaze with a sly smile on her face, "we should hook you up with ; Rahkaze Zayne on how do to be so Savage."

Rahkaze chuckled at her compliment, "I wouldn't call it a skill. It's more like a talent."

"Whatever it is, I kind of like it," Sylvia blushed happily.

"Oh, please. You're the one that should go to and teach some courses on how to insult someone in a different language. You knew Claire can read people's minds, but you didn't even care."

Sylvia shrugged, "so?"

Suddenly, a third party appeared in Rahkaze's office. It was none other than Moraciel himself.

Sylvia turns around and sees the adorable silk moth caterpillar demon, "Moraciel! You're on time for once!" She announced as she ran over to him and gave him a great big hug, purposely pressing her ample chest and firm body against his.

By reflex, Moraciel blushed in embarrassment, "Yeah, Sylvia, I am here! Do you really have to get touchy-feely all the time?"

Sylvia thought about it, "well, sorry to answer your stupid question with another stupid question but, is there any milk in ice cream?"

"In this case, no, Sylvia! Please, get off me!" Moraciel continually urged as Sylvia let go of her death grip.

"You're no fun, Moraciel," she pouted.

"I see both you are in high spirits today? What happened, are we finally going to get a release date on Kingdom Hearts 3 from Square Enix?" Moraciel sincerely asked.

"Nah, you just missed out on a savage moment by yours truly," Sylvia posted.

Rahkaze sighs, "Claire and Minori showed up into my office just now wanted to see… Well, they demanded to have an audience with you."

This kind of shocked Moraciel, "why would they show up here asking for me? I didn't do anything wrong."

"No, you didn't. They just hate the fact that now somebody is doing their job more efficiently," Rahkaze defended.

"Well, I did kind of upstage one of them when they raided the crime scene," Moraciel second-guessed. "I mean, it's obvious they want to help us. That's one thing about the Hellwolf's demon hunters, they are relentless, and I will see them again."

"I wish they would try to do something, Moraciel," Sylvia added.

The tension in the room became more serious as Rahkaze reminisced about his own past with the demon hunters, "Remember, our mother had to step in after that tragedy in England. How their defenses were breached and were infiltrated from the inside out; how they were made into a laughingstock by The Beast.

"I will never forget what Ferania and the other demon hunters did. No one will. All they had to do was listen to reason. They thought they were invincible until The Beast came in and humbled them. Made them honestly face their own mortality for once in their lives and when they did, they didn't like what they saw and hid underground.

"Now after five years, they want to play nice with us? After all those years before that, they treated our family like shit when we tried to save their asses from another massive fallout? Pardon my French but, fuck them."

Concerned about his brother's temper, or still try to console, "I know, Rahkaze, but be reasonable. They're not bad people. Yes, everything you said was indeed true. But everybody makes mistakes, even fatal ones. And I do believe they are allowed the same second chance as everyone else."

Rahkaze scoffed at the idea, "I don't believe that. They will always be pissed off at the fact that two bug boys and a couple of amateur magicians back in a day ended up uncovering a global war conspiracy in which their own master knew about but wouldn't lift a finger to do anything about it. It just shows that his servants, the phantoms and most of the "demi-gods" were planning World War 3, and we were the ones who ending up warning everyone just the neck of time. They will never and I mean ever let that go so why not in the hell should I let it go?"

Then suddenly, Rahkaze's business phone started to ring. Fortunately for his brother, it was something for Rahkaze to calm down. He answered the phone, "Rahkaze Zayne speaking."

 _"Goth punk detective,"_ Andrea answered as Rahkaze wholeheartedly laughed.

"Andrea, how are you this morning?"

 _"I'm doing fine,"_ she answered. _"I just caught a case yesterday. It appears four out of the unholy six were murdered last night."_

"Four of them, I thought it was five," Moraciel contradicted.

"So, I heard on the news. Hey, Moraciel and Sylvia are here with me. I'll put you on speakerphone," Rahkaze pressed a button on his phone and hung up the receiver. Now, the three of them can speak to Andrea over the speaker, "okay, go ahead, Andrea."

 _"We did a routine toxicology report on Ross. According to his medical records, he has type I diabetes. In his blood work, there was no trace of insulin that was prescribed to him."_

"Maybe he was undiagnosed with diabetes," Moraciel suggested.

 _"Oh, he knows. He was hospitalized twice for high glucose levels,"_ Andrea debunked. _"However, in this victim's blood work, there was no abnormalities of any kind."_

"Strange…" Moraciel contemplated as Andrea continued.

 _"Even stranger, this man went under the knife too many times. His x-rays show dental implants and plastic surgery for his nose, cheeks, and chin. He even had color contact lenses and hair plugs."_

"Thousands of dollars of dental and facial work. That makes sense. The Doctor Calisto who died in the warehouse last night was a fake," Moraciel concluded.

 _"Most of the cosmetic surgery was done recently so I ran his mitochondrial DNA in the criminal databanks and he has no criminal records."_

"Try checking for civilian records, like blood donations," Moraciel suggested. "Just a hunch. But up close, he seemed awfully young. Maybe he donated blood for money."

 _"Yeah, the guy was in perfect health, and he was clean for drugs. But then again, we did find some fresh needle marks. If he donated blood, there would be a record of it to prove he was clean. Since this is a criminal investigation, me getting a public search for his medical records won't be a problem. I'll contact the Medical Examiner's Office in order at different search. Later, guys."_

"Later, Andrea," Moraciel bid farewell.

"Later," Rahkaze bid farewell as he hung up the phone and addressed the two. "Getting the results will take a while."

"Right, Moraciel, are you ready to work?" Sylvia asked.

"Yes, I'll be in my office if you guys need me," Moraciel announced as he made his way out of Rahkaze's office and went to the elevator. He immediately went for his card key and press the sub-basement button. There he had all access to his own office; a windowless training room with training equipment, 14 monitors with a supercomputer hooked up to every surveillance camera in the city, a shooting range and a garage.


	9. Chapter 8

He wasted no time getting into his training gear and started to do his usual training regimen.

First, he did 25 repetitions of one-armed pull-up by grabbing the pull-up bar with each arm; pulling his chest to the bar, pausing for 5 seconds, and then lowering his body back to the starting position.

Afterward, he had to do 50 repetitions of Deadlifts; loading the barbell and roll it against his lower claws. Bending at his hips and grab the bar with an overhand grip, his hands just beyond shoulder width. Without allowing his lower back to round, he had to pull his torso back and up, thrust his hips forward, and stand up with the barbell. Squeeze his glutes as you perform the movement. Lower the bar to the floor, keeping it as close to his body as possible.

Then he had to do 50 repetitions of push-ups by getting down on all fours and placing his hands on the floor so that they're slightly wider than and in line with his shoulders. Lowering his body until your chest nearly touches the floor. Pause at the bottom, and then push yourself back to the starting position as quickly as possible.

After he did 50 repetitions of 24-inch box jumps as he stood in front of a sturdy, secure box that's high enough so that you must climb by a large effort to land on top of it. They had to use additional boxes for this one.

When he was done with that he had to do 50 repetitions of floor wipers; holding a 165-pound full bar above his chest, bring your feet up together to the left plate, down to the middle, and up to the right plate before putting them down in the middle. That's one repetition.

With no end in sight, he had to do 50 repetitions of single-arm clean-and-press with 45-lbs. Kettlebell by standing shoulder-width apart with a kettlebell. Bending and grabbing the kettlebell with an overhand grip. Diving his hips and legs through the floor to bring the kettlebell up to your chest. Pushing overhead before lowering it to the ground in a controlled movement. That's one rep. He made sure to touch the ground before each repetition and had to perform 25 repetitions per arm.

Finally, he had to do 25 more repetitions of regular pull-ups by grabbing the pull-up bar with an overhand grip that's slightly wider than shoulder width apart, and hang at arm's length; pulling your chest to the bar, pause, and then lower your body back to the starting position.

After the workout, he was in severe pain. Fortunately, he was used to it, and he let out a mighty battle cry and pushed forward. He got on the treadmill and ran for 15 miles an hour, 30 minutes straight. Then he practiced on his wushu techniques on the Wing Chun Wooden Dummy Boxing Bag for about an hour. Afterward, he started practicing massive tail strikes with the heavy punching bags as well. Then finally, he put on some boxing gloves and begun to punch away at the heavy bags.

During his workout, his older brother Rahkaze steps in, watching his brother train, "beautiful, you're becoming better with the striking. What about your weapons technique?"

Moraciel paused as he catches his breath, "it's been better. I have been using my compound bow for parrying techniques. But I've been going through them like water. So, I'm going to build a more durable compound bow and entail Kali Bastons in my arsenal."

"Finally," Rahkaze agreed. "Do you want a sparring match?"

Moraciel balked at the idea, "after what transpired early this morning, I think you would use some exercise."

Already in his training gear, both Rahkaze and Moraciel went on the training mat and started to spar with eskrima sticks or bastons.

The baston (Spanish and Filipino for "cane") is one of the primary weapons of Arnis and Filipino martial arts. It is also known as yantok, olisi, palo, pamalo, garrote, caña, cane, arnis stick, eskrima stick or simply, stick.

The usage of bastons for historical fencing (esgrima in Spanish) has been recorded at least as far back as 400 years ago. Traditional conventional materials for wooden bastons are usually rattan, kamagong, and bahi wood.

In Arnis and Filipino martial arts, aside from being a primary weapon, bastons are also used as implements to train with bladed weapons such as bolos, machetes and other Philippine knives and swords as many motions using the canes are applicable when translated to blades and vice versa. Using wooden training weapons like the baston instead of live blades is also done for safety considerations.

For training in espada y daga styles, a baston and a balisong knife is a common combination. Hitting suspended or mounted vehicle tires is also a common practice to build speed, power, and impact by practitioners.

They were relentless and held nothing back with their smooth yet lightning fast techniques; being in sync with each other as they were attacking, defending and countering each other. This went on for at least an hour.

It was the afternoon, and Sylvia arrived at Moraciel's office with a pair of sandwiches and a pair of drinks. There, she sees both brothers who are both fatigued and slightly bruised.

This pleased Sylvia, "I take it you guys had fun today."

Both brothers laughed it off sincerely. And it was fun. To them, training was a release. They all learned various martial arts and weapons training from their mother Revan who was the previous version of Memento in her family's legacy, Lady Memento.

Sylvia set the tray of food on the table as the brothers walked towards her.

"I went to Panera Bread, and got you all Portobello mushroom burgers and raspberry tofu smoothies," Sylvia announced as they started eating.

"Thank you, Sylvia," Moraciel obliged.

"No problem at all," Sylvia said as she went her way to the 16 symmetrical monitors and sat down in the executive chair, overseeing the city.

While there were eating, Moraciel couldn't help himself asking Rahkaze an obvious question, "brother, they really did rattle you back there, didn't they?"

Rahkaze only shook his head, but his brother was right, "I guess they did get under my skin a little bit, Moraciel. To be honest, you are very lucky. You didn't get to see the 'females' as I have seen them. You thought to be in that Academy was hard, dealing with them was a hell of a lot worse than studying for tests and training evaluations."

Moraciel pondered what his brother spoke about as he took a sip of his smoothie, "I do take your word for it, brother. However, I do feel a bit contradictive with the phrase you speak of. Yes, those females were difficult to deal with. But there is a reason behind everything. They were created for such purpose to exterminate certain and selected types of life without question or meaning. Although, the Great God of Death himself has given them free will to do whatever they choose. To whomever they want."

Feeling better, this made Rahkaze laugh as he rebutted his brother's words, "Moraciel, you are a fool. You're very lucky on that I am in a good mood. Free will is a lie. It is an illusion made by Gods like Kerathos to keep us all in line until that bitch Mia takes our souls."

Faltering, Moraciel tries to make it all makes sense, "Rahkaze, although the great God of death has given demons free will to do whatever they choose. It is a mean our free will is some great big lie to keep us… Wandering around in this world like some lost puppy in the street somewhere… Maybe… Maybe at a time where things could be… All I'm saying is, we all have choices in life. Whether a God has given us a path… Some people follow such a path only to create their own."

Rahkaze knew he was trying his best. He patted his baby brother on the back to calm his nerves, "forgive me, Moraciel. I guess we can say they instilled some negativity in me. It took me a while to shake it off. But it's still there. Hanging over me and playing her song like a wind chime."

"Things have gotten better. It could have gotten a hell of a lot worse. We could be at war right now. But instead, we are talking about our problems. They are still battles, and they are manageable to say bluntly. We did the right thing," Moraciel said as he took a bite of the sandwich.

"I'm very happy to have you as a brother, Moraciel. I'm honored," Rahkaze praised as this makes his baby brother blush.

"W-well, I don't think I've done anything that important. I just do what I can."

"Hey, boys, come over here and see this," Sylvia beckoned as the two brothers walked over to the monitors.

Rahkaze scouted one of Sylvia's old bad habits, "dammit, Sylvia, I told you time after time after time! You can't watch TV here! These are for surveillance only!"

Sylvia pointed at one of the center screens, "your favorite girl is in the news again."

As Rahkaze and the others focused on the center screen, it really wasn't his favorite person. More like a thorn in the side of his. More like the open sore at the roof of your mouth where you can't stop tonguing it.

It was a relatively young female in a business suit with long black hair and brown eyes.

Rahkaze pointed her out quickly, "Jesselynn Rose."

Jesselynn Rose is a 32-year-old human Assistant District Attorney who works in close cooperation with many of the NYPD, including Andrea Mercy. Her brash and arrogant attitude has gained a lot of steam and support from the NYPD. But it has polarized if not most but all the civilians in the city.

Jesselynn Rose was leaving out of the courthouse as a swarm of reporters flagged her down, asking for a soundbite.

One male reporter ended up being the loudest and getting the first question asked, _"Counselor, in the span of 24 hours, 16 men and women were killed. Coincidentally, some of them were with the holy six of New York-"_

 _"The Unholy six of New York?"_ Jesselynn responded as she scoffed at the reporter. " _The Unholy Six of New York were all a bunch of losers who did deserve to breathe the same air as all of us. When you lay down with the devil, you're going to get burned. As for this 'Nobody' character that everybody's spewing about over the Internet. Is nothing more than a glorified vigilante."_

 _"So, what you say is true, Memento is on your list of supposed demons to take down?"_ The reporter continued.

 _"Anybody who takes justice into their own hands is criminals. He has done absolutely nothing to stop these murders, these rapes and above all else people like the phantoms who are sitting in some cushy five-star hotel. Meanwhile, everyone else here is struggling to pay their mortgage and their rent."_

"Yeah, that's real original, counselor. Turn that shit off," Rahkaze demanded as Sylvia followed suit.

"Let's be honest. She truly knows how to draw an audience. To not be surprised if she goes political and put her hat in the mayoral race." Sylvia said.

"And they'll be one less vote for her and her opponent. By whom? We don't even know for sure."

"I swear. It really must be hell being her at times." Sylvia added.

"She is saying all the right things. There are many people out there who still hate demons and blame them for the chaos that is in our world today," Moraciel pointed.

"Those people are ignorant," Rahkaze counterpointed. "Anybody who instills fear and ignorance without any basis of the truth are fear mongers."

Suddenly, the telephone rings and Sylvia answers the call, "good morning and it's a beautiful day at Zayne Enterprises. My name is Sylvia and how may I assist you?"

 _"It's me again, Andrea. I had a rush order of the DNA samples I gave to the medical examiner. Nothing yet. Jesselynn was at the precinct just now. She told us that the district attorney will not support our findings and to kick over the case to homicide."_

"Something is definitely wrong then," Moraciel pondered.

"I told you she's playing for a seat in the mayor's office. Why wouldn't she do it around this time of year?" Sylvia said.

 _"I still think she's playing with fire. At any rate, our only lead is in the morgue, and we have no leads on who actually killed off most of the Unholy Six."_

"Well, that doesn't mean I can't find a way," Moraciel teased.

 _"A step ahead of you. I am emailing you the DNA code of the victim right now. Maybe you can figure out who this guy is,"_ Andrea suggested.

"We will do that, Andrea. And thank you," Moraciel obliged as Andrea hangs up the phone. Syria types away and goes through the encrypted email account.

"This will take about an hour with our databases," Sylvia said. "In the meantime, you boys to make yourself comfortable."

"Never stay comfortable. That's what my mother used to say," Rahkaze reminisces.

"Yeah, she was a real hardliner. I'm glad she's not here in New York." Sylvia added. "By the way, how is your little sister doing?"

"Having a ball. Now she wants to be an actress," Moraciel chimed in as Sylvia laughed.

"Yeah, that seems quite right about her. She is such a blessing. No matter what they have said about her. In fact, it goes double for those two."

Both brothers happily nodded in agreement.

"Finding Ross will not be a challenge. In fact, I plan on giving him a visit tonight," Moraciel announced.

"Oh? Can I come along and be your little sidekick?" Sylvia flirted.

"No." Moraciel flatly denied.

"Oh, why not? It's not like I won't do anything stupid," Sylvia pouted.

"You are needed here as my oracle… right here," Moraciel emphasized. "Besides, Calisto always has something up his sleeve. He recently built a house in Oswego County. Somewhat of a traditional Japanese house, if you will."

"In the middle of nowhere? Okay, then I'm definitely not going," Sylvia wavered.

"Exactly. I'm going to deploy the camera drones, taking architectural scans in the area. Taking him down won't be easy since I will be on his home turf."

"Consider it done, Moraciel." Sylvia agreed as she began to follow the order. "Oh, and by the way, Rahkaze, you won't be the only one in Germany. I heard Chloe will be there as well."

This delights Rahkaze, "Chloe Serpentine?! Wow, it's been so many years we have seen face-to-face!"

"I know. I was only 14 when we first spoke to each other face-to-face," Moraciel added as Rahkaze nodded in agreement.

However, this revelation was a sad one and was necessary as it brought back painful memories for Rahkaze, "yes, Moraciel. On that exact same day, we all changed things together and went our separate ways to pick up the pieces. It has been that long, I mean, we all still talk to her over the phone. But she has been on a personal mission of her own; starting over. She lost so much. I'm surprised she pulled herself together and became very successful over at Interpol."

"When you see her, tell her I said 'hi' and she must come to New York City and visit us at least for one day," Moraciel asked.

"I will, little brother. She's always been the workaholic type so even if I have to gas her to knock her out just to bring her here, I will," Rahkaze happily teased.

"Then he'll be on trial for kidnapping an international government official," Moraciel analyzed.

"Moraciel?" Sylvia chuckled.

"Well, yes. Flaking out on us every single year when we have our little get-togethers. Just this once, I want her sitting across from me and tell me to shut up about… whatever it is I'm talking about," Rahkaze explained.

"Brother, she does that now over the phone," Moraciel pointed out.

"And yet, I still keep on talking. So, she must say it to me in person," Rahkaze smiles as Moraciel shakes his head.

"I'm going to recalibrate my compound bow. I'm already getting a headache," Moraciel gives up as he walks away in disgust.

"You know you love me, Moraciel! I can feel it in your soul," Rahkaze passionately teases. Then he turns his attention to Sylvia who is working on deploying the camera drones to Oswego County. "What about you Sylvia, do you love me?"

"Of course, I love you, Rahkaze. You pay me on time," Sylvia commented.

However, her snide comments did rub Rahkaze the wrong way, "you know, you can be a real bitch at times, Sylvia."

"And that's why you hired me," Sylvia fired back. Knowing he cannot win this fight, the defeated Rahkaze retreated to the locker room with his head down.


	10. Chapter 9

Hours later, Jesselynn is in her office. She was working on a few things. One of them was her speech to declare herself to be in the election. Of course, she has made a lot of enemies on both sides; both the Republicans and the Democrats on various issues. Now more than ever, she has been to go to woman for such extreme cases with demonology attached. She has become the Rudolph Giuliani of her generation. Her words, not anyone else's.

Then, a sudden tap on the door and a slightly older man with short white hair and black eyes stepped into her office. He was well built for his age and appears to have taken care of himself very well. Jesselynn looks up to see this man and immediately recognizes him, "if you're looking for an explanation, Christopher, you're not getting it for me."

The man's full name is Christopher Mercy who is a police captain in the New York City Police Department. The precinct that he commands is the 20th precinct, the same precinct that Andrea Mercy works.

Spending at least 30 years on the job, working as a police officer for five years and being in intelligence division for 25, he is a man who pretty much seen it all and done it all. He is highly regarded and respected amongst his peers and has been the commanding officer in the newly formed Demonology Intelligence Unit for the past five years.

"I don't know what you're trying to pull, Jesse, but I was real stupid when you did," Christopher critiqued.

"Last time I checked, I do not answer to you."

"That's the problem. You don't answer to anyone. I just spoke to the district attorney. He said absolutely nothing about you throwing out the case; saying it wasn't relevant to this office."

Jesselynn shrugs her shoulders, "and what's your point?"

"My point is those media hounds out there are not your friends," Christopher explains. "You've been doing this for three years. Coming straight out of white-collar crimes. You've pleaded and begged for your first homicide case. Three days into the case, you blew chunks everywhere."

"And since then, I have learned not to go to these demonic crime scenes with a full stomach," Jesselyn fired back.

"There is a difference between demon and evil, Jesse. You're feeding these people paranoia and fear and hatred. And your audience, they don't care about the facts. All they care about is entertainment."

Jesselynn and Christopher have been at odds since day one. Christopher pretty much knew that she was using this as a stepping stone for political gain. Many people around NYPD thought she wanted to be the judge. But now she is aiming for more than that.

"Jesse, you're putting yourself in harm's way. You want that spot at the Gracie Mansion. We all know that. But this is not the way to do it."

Jesselynn let out a deep breath and spoke clearly and calmly, "I know I can do a better job than any of those old bastards in City Hall. What this city needs now more than ever is new blood to run things. To shake up things. To do what has to be done and I can do that."

"You better watch yourself. That's all I'm telling you. Because if anybody gets a whiff at what you have done in the past, the shit will hit the fan," Christopher sincerely warned as he left her office.

But his words fell on deaf ears as Jesselynn rolled her eyes and started to work on her commencement speech.


End file.
